Money hacks Use beans to make meals cheaper and healthier

Beans have it all, according to some of the best-known chefs in the country.

- Shane Hickey

They are sustainable, plentiful, nutritious and a fraction of the cost of meats such as steak and chicken.Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall are two of the faces of a drive to double the number of black, borlotti, butter, cannellini, fava, haricot and kidney beans eaten in the UK by 2028. The Bang in Some Beans campaign is also backed by many of the UK's main supermarkets, which have committed to increasing the sale of legumes over the next three years.

Ali Honour, a chef and the author of a new recipe book, Beans, says they are flexible enough to be used as a main course or in desserts, and offer significant savings over buying meat.

"While meat prices float into the stratosphere, humble beans remain the quiet overachievers of the food world: cheap, filling, nutritious, and ready to save your dinner and your bank account," she says.

"If steak is the loud showoff at the dinner table, beans are the kid in the corner doing everyone's homework - quietly brilliant, wildly underrated, and ultimately the one you want on your side."

With planning, Honour says that swapping one or two meals a week will cut your food bill, as well as reduce your carbon footprint and improve your cooking. "Beans prove that great food doesn’t need to be expensive; it just needs to be thoughtful," she says.

Rebecca Tobi, the head of food business transformation at the Food Foundation, says the rising price of meat means many households are looking at how to stretch their budget while also providing balanced meals.

"We've got baked beans on toast, which is a British classic. Beyond that, people often aren’t that familiar with using beans. But when you look to other cultures and countries, beans are in a huge array of really tasty dishes. From Mexico you've got enchiladas, ranging right through to Asia, where you have dals," she says.